


The Crimson Paladin

by T_Hurricane



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Blood, Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Concussions, Drug Use, Gen, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Torture, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Medical Procedures, Missions Gone Wrong, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Torture, injection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29041152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/T_Hurricane/pseuds/T_Hurricane
Summary: Keith and Lance are already eagerly awaited - they are almost a day late from when their mission had been planned to be over.Allura, Shiro, Hunk, Coran and Pidge stand ready to welcome them back in the Lion's hangars - but upon seeing the two they fear that their worst fears and concerns may have come true.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This one is still rather short, but since I had at least the first half finished for a while now I wanted to post it :D

„Finally, there they are!“ Hunk exclaimed when he picked up on the Red Lion on the Castle’s close range radar. It was following the Black Lion closely. 

„I wonder what took them so long. I know that this mission was relying on stealth and radio silence and all, but they are still almost a day late“ Pidge added. 

„At least they are here now. I was beginning to get worried, but they are returning within the failsafe time we agreed on. Let’s get to the hangars to await them“ Allura said, already turning and walking out the door of the bridge. 

Shiro, Coran, Pidge and Hunk followed her. 

They were all standing in the main hangar for around a minute when the Black Lion was about to land in front of them. 

„Why is Lance landing Red here?“ Shiro started to ask, wondering about why Lance hadn’t piloted the Red Lion into its own hangar, but he was interrupted by a loud crash. 

The Black Lion hadn’t landed gracefully as the lions usually did. 

Its right front paw had given out under it and fell onto its stomach, the deafening impact made the others jerk in surprise. 

„What-„ Hunk was about to say, but then the Red Lion landed - normally and gracefully, as it should be - and roared at them. 

„Something is wrong“ Allura said and began running to the Black Lion’s maw. 

She had just about reached it when the maw slightly opened. 

„Keith!?“ Shiro called out. He and the others had followed Allura immediately after they had all sensed the urgency and desperation of the Red Lion. 

„Right… here“ came the panted answer. 

A second later Keith appeared - but before he could even begin to speak the others were all rushing to him. 

Well, to him and the unconscious person he was carrying in his arms. 

„Lance!“ Hunk and Coran yelled at the same time. 

„What the hell happened to you?“ Pidge said. 

„Ran into some difficulties. We’ve been double crossed, the informant wanted to sell us to the Galra. He held us captive, but we managed to get free although we still only barely made it out. Lance… He was caught in the explosion and blasted into space before he could get out. Knocked him unconscious“ Keith rambled. His face was pale and he looked like he was staring right through them. 

He was carrying Lance bridal style, and his armor was scorched and red.

Red with blood. Crimson drops that were beginning to fall to the ground, making a horrible tiny puddle.

„Okay, slow down Keith“ Shiro said, putting his hands up in a calming gesture. He noticed Keith’s pale face right away. Shock. 

„Let’s just get him to a pod immediately, okay?“ Coran said, having picked up on the distorted behavior of the Black Paladin too. 

„Yeah. That sounds good. His leg needs to be set I think“ Keith only said while Coran began to take Lance into his arms. 

„I’ll look at it right away. We have to stop his bleeding first though“ he said as soon as he had Lance securely in his arms.  
The boy whimpered when his leg was jostled, but other than that he made no sounds and remained completely unconscious. He slowly started to walk while carrying Lance, trying his best to do so so carefully and slowly as to not aggravate any wounds.

„Bleeding? What bleeding“ Keith asked, almost panicked. His eyes wandered hastily over Lance while he rushed to follow Coran. He was swaying and limping, but he ignored it.

Keith’s armor was just as red as Lance’s, but Coran figured that Lance had bled all over him while Keith had carried him. 

„The blood all over his body?“ Pidge answered incredulously. 

„Oh, that blood. Don’t worry, he should be fine“ Keith just answered, completely calm again. 

Shiro was hovering near Keith, making sure the other would not fall while he stumbled forward. He knew that if Keith was walking he would prefer to not make a big scene and let himself be carried, too, but Shiro would make sure that at least Keith wouldn’t fall. 

They had slowly wandered down the steps of the Black Lion’s maw and were now all headed to the infirmary.

„How can you say that! His blood is everywhere!“ Hunk now cried out in distress. He just couldn’t believe why Keith was taking this so lightly. 

He understood that the other was in some sort of shock, and probably had a concussion if the blood in his hairline was any indicator for that, but this was just too much. 

„I’m telling you, he’ll be okay“ Keith said again, his voice a bit weaker than before. 

„He will be after his wound is found and treated. With this amount of blood we should make haste“ Coran interrupted after he had stepped out of the shadow of the Black Lion. 

With better lighting the extent of the situation became more visible: The leg was not only broken, but the foot also pointed backwards. And the blood… It seemed like every piece of armor that had been white - especially the chest plate - were now painted in a crimson red.

„Oh dear, only what have you been through?“ Coran asked worriedly and turned to go ahead and take Lance into the infirmary more quickly. 

„I know it, Hunk. He’s going to be okay“ Keith said with a hesitant but tired smile after he noticed Hunk’s tears. He went to pat the Yellow Paladin’s shoulder with one hand to offer some comfort. 

When had he started to cry?

„But there is just so much of it… How can you be so sure?“ Hunk sobbed, half accusingly, half utterly terrified. He wanted to do nothing more than follow Lance, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold his composure as soon as he saw what was under the armor. He was surprised at himself that he hadn’t already thrown up at the sight that met him when the two exited the Lion. 

„Because it’s not Lance’s blood“ Keith only replied while making another limping step. 

That made everyone stop dead in their tracks. 

„Whose.. whose blood is it then?“ Allura asked, a mild panic in her voice. 

„It’s mine..?“ Keith just replied as if it was obvious.

Then, the ground was suddenly swaying more intensley than ever under his feet. His vision was blurring and the ground was suddenly coming up to meet his face.  
Someone was yelling something, and he felt something grab him, but before he could try to stand up again or look who had caught him Keith blacked out.


	2. Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!  
> Sorry that I couldn't update this sooner, but I had to focus on my studies and university in the past few weeks :D
> 
> I hope you like it!

There were voices. He felt like he was on a ship on the ocean, swaying to the left and right.  
Then, the movement stopped and he felt how he was put down on something. 

The noise around him only grew louder and more quiet in the next second - it was as if someone was screaming into his ear at one moment but in the next everything was dulled and muffled again. 

He groaned and tried to move, but as soon as he tried to open his eyes, bright and white light forced him to close them again immediately. 

Something - someone, it was a hand - was gently touching his cheek. 

"Lance? You with me?" the someone said. It was the first time he identified something in the mushed together noise and commotion around him. 

"Hmmmm" he hummed, not able to get his tongue to move like he wanted it to. 

"Shhh, it's okay, you're going to be okay. You're in the Castle, in the infirmary" the voice then said. 

Hunk… This voice belonged to Hunk. 

And he was in the Castle?  
How had he gotten here? The last thing he remembered was Keith shielding him and then being blasted into space - 

"Keith!" he cried out in panic, opening his eyes despite the bright lights and shooting up to sit. 

Which he immediately regretted as everything started swaying and if it wouldn't have been for Hunk grabbing him he would have fallen off from what he now identified as one of the cots in the infirmary. 

"Hey, easy there" Hunk said in a worried tone. 

"No, where is Keith?!" Lance insisted while trying to ignore the stabbing pain that shot up his leg and hips whenever he moved. 

"He's okay, he is here, too" Pidge now said, appearing at Lance's other side and taking one of his hands in hers. 

"We need to get him into a pod immediately" he heard Allura say suddenly. He tried to turn around, and when he finally managed to catch a glimpse of the commotion that went on to his left he froze.

Keith was unconscious and had been laid down on some sort of metal surface table. Shiro, Coran and Allura were just removing his chest plate, and when Coran finally took it off the inside was painted in red instead of white. 

One of Keith’s arms was dangling lifelessly off the table. Blood was running along it and crimson blood dropped down from his fingertips whenever he was jostled or moved. 

„The undersuit, too“Coran said and began stripping Keith’s torso from the black undersuit every Paladin wore under their armor. 

Lance watched in horror as the soaked material was peeled from Keith, revealing three holes in his body. 

Two of which he knew where Keith had gotten them from - and one that he didn’t remember Keith obtaining. 

Lance shuddered with horror at the memory of how the first two wounds came to be. 

„Princess, please open a pod. We don’t have time to put him in a cryosuit“ Coran ordered. 

Allura hurried to the nearest pod and Coran scooped Keith up, placed him inside and immediately started the sequence that he had once programmed with the help of Pidge - a sequence suitable for both Humans and Galra.

„There, now I fear that we can only wait“ Coran sighed and turned around to Lance. 

„Now let’s have at you, okay?“ he asked Lance, but Lance didn’t even hear him. He was simply staring past Coran and had his eyes fixed on Keiths slack face. 

Guilt crept up his back and made him shudder. 

„Lance? Lance, my boy?“ Coran tried again, having called the Red Paladin by his name a few times already. 

„W-What?“ Lance asked and managed to avert his gaze from the healing pod. 

„I need to take a look at your leg and other wounds. I think you also require being treated in a pod“ Coran gently said. 

„Uh, y-yeah“ Lance said when he remembered the state of his leg. 

„Lance… What happened?“ Shiro asked with a small voice, standing near the pod and looking desperately at his little brother fighting for his life. 

„Can you talk to us about it?“ Allura asked, more gentle and remembering the pain that the boy surely was in, but still in dire need of information about what had happened. 

„We were already worried when you were late for our rendezvous, but this…“ she tried again and finally looked him in the eyes while grabbing his hand. 

Coran was busy preparing a pod and then gathering all the tools necessary to reset his leg, but he was just as strained to hear the story ans Allura, Hunk, Shiro and Pidge. 

„We.. uh. The mission went a bit wrong.. In a few ways“ Lance finally said, looking at Allura but with unfocused eyes. He looked like he was staring at something in the far distance, as if he was reliving the whole scenario again. 

„The contact… He tripple crossed us. First, he double crossed us, because he stunned us out of nowhere and had a few Galra at the ready who he said would buy us. But then, when the Galra didn’t pay him, he backed out of their agreement and wanted to set us free again… Which cost him his life“ Lance started. 

While Lance was distracted, Coran motioned to Pidge that he needed a strong numbing agent for his leg, which Pidge immediately began to synthesize. 

„He… It wasn’t pretty. We were still chained up, and the Galra took us with them then. We didn’t leave the base, but for t-trying to escape them they wanted to make us pay. _I’ve heard that there is a halfbreed among the Paladins - let’s test that out, shall we_ their leader then said, and when the wanted to get to me, Keith jumped in and told them that it wasn’t me but him. I t-tried to p-protest, but it all happened so fast and then…“ Lance now rambled. He was a crying and sobbing mess, and he has never been more grateful for Hunk gently rubbing his back in comfort. 

Coran accepted the vile from Pidge and prepared a syringe. 

„This will sting a little, but the pain should be gone then“ he assured Lance as he approached them, but Lance recoiled. 

„N-No, I don’t want that, stay away“ he said and tried to stand up, to flee, to do anything to get away from the syringe. 

„It will be alright my boy. Hunk, Allura, Shiro. I’m sorry but I require your help with this“ Coran said with sad eyes. The other three had understood, and before Lance could react, they had already secured his limbs and torso so that he couldn’t move away. 

„No! Please, no, no no no no no“ he blabbered, but the others ignored his pleas, as hard as it was for them. 

„This is only to help you“ Pidge tried to reassure him and gently cradled his head. 

Coran managed to make the injection - thanks to Allura’s and Shiro’s iron grip on his legs - but Lance thrashed and still protested weakly. 

„Lance, it’s over, it’s okay, you’re fine“ Hunk sobbed after it was done and after a while, Lance began to calm down. 

„Wh..What happened? What was that?“ he asked, his voice tiny. 

„Just a numbing agent so that we can reset your leg“ Coran assured him, and at that. Lance’s eyes cleared again. 

„C-Coran?“ he asked in disbelief, only now recognizing the royal advisor again. 

„Yes, I’m here my boy“ the elder said with a sad but calming smile. 

„S-Sorry. I thought… T-They i-injected me with something, too. I.. couldn’t move, I could only…“ Lance hesitantly admitted in a trembling voice. 

„You could only do what, Lance?“ Pidge then asked. 

„I c-could only watch“ Lance then sobbed. He clapped at his hair in desperation, and the tears in his eyes made everything blurry in addition to the already painfully bright lights of the infirmary. 

„Watch… what? What did they do?“ Shiro asked then, fearing that he already knew the answer to his question. 

A fear that came true when Lance lifted his gaze and looked him in the eyes. 

„They made me watch them torturing him. They pinned him to the wall through his sh-shoulders and tortured him until he couldn’t even scream his pain out anymore“ Lance said, and the room fell completely silent at that. 

„No“ Allura said in disbelief and covered her mouth with her hands. 

„They stopped after some time because of some things they had to take care of, so they left us alone. I still couldn’t do anything, but then Keith moved, and I don’t know how he did it but he stood up. He dragged me out of there and we had almost made it to the Lions when they saw us. Then there was an explosion, and then I woke up here“ Lance finished and slumped back into Hunk’s steady hold. 

He could already feel exhaustion tugging at him, lulling him into following him and just pass out. He squeezed his eyes together and then forced himself to open them again. 

„I am so sorry that this happened to you“ Allura said with a grave tone, clearly trying not to burst into tears. 

„Let’s get you in a pod, too, okay? Coran - his leg?“ he said, but a sickening popping and crunching noise as Coran forcefully tugged at Lance’s leg was what answered her. 

Lance didn’t even react - the numbing agent and the exhaustion prevented him from even realizing that his bone had just been reset. 

„No“ was the only thing he said. 

„What?“ Hunk asked, baffled. 

„He is in there because I was useless. I won’t even think about going into a pod before I know that he will be safe“ Lance said firmly, blending out the other’s protests of him needing the pod as well. 

„You won’t have to wait long“ Coran suddenly interrupted the discussion. 

Everyone stopped mid sentence and looked at him expectantly, and then at the pod Keith was in. 

The stats and values displayed on the surface had changed from red to white. 

„He is out of the danger zone, and will be completely healed in one and a half quintants“ Coran informed them. 

The tension immediately left the room, and everyone let out cries of relief and joy. 

„You up for a pod now?“ Shiro gently asked while wiping at his tears. 

„Yeah“ Lance just admitted tiredly. His body had now completely gone limp, and he felt how he wasn’t able to hold back the darkness that threatened to overcome him any moment. 

But it was okay - because Keith would be okay. 

And with that, Lance let himself be put in a pod by his friends, blacking out somewhere in the process.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! 
> 
> As always, I would be **really grateful for any comment** \- they are the only real measurement an author can get about how you really find it!
> 
> _I have created a discord server where you can share fan fiction you would like to recommend, get tips and help from other authors as well as help others out as author, simply chat with people, etc. - all for various fandoms! :) If you are interested to join, I'd be happy to welcome you there!_ **[Fan Fiction Library (Discord Server)](https://discord.gg/RuSjgxC68t) **


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